Caprese Salad

I've eaten the Spaghetti with Tomato and Anchovy dish every day since I made it the other night. I decided that if I had it again tonight I'd have to whip up something different just for the sake of variety. I made a simple Caprese Salad. I used the four basic ingredients - tomato, mozzarella, basil and olive oil - but I've seen some recipes call for salt and pepper to taste and capers. It was delicious.

Last Night's Cocktail Hour

Prior to making last night's dinner I made gin and tonics and drank them from my new tiki cup on the porch. The music for cocktail hour was Red Hot + Rio 2 which I had just downloaded from iTunes. The album pays tribute to the Brazilian Bossa Nova and Tropicalia movements of the 1960's by offering updated versions of the songs from that era by contemporary artists. It's quite and amazing collection of songs and was produced by the Red Hot Organization which raises money for HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.

Dining Alone Part 3

With Dale up on the Island I haven't been eating like I usually do. I haven't been eating poorly just differently - lots of sushi, rotissere chicken and beef from Kowalski's, cheese and crackers, herring and crackers, salads, and lots more fruit than usual. Anyway, the stuff I've been eating hasn't required much preparation so yesterday I decided to try something that called for a little more effort. The recipe I picked was Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato and Anchovy Sauce from Jacques Pepin's More Fast Food My Way. The dish was really quite simple to prepare and very delicious for how easy it was to make. Ingredients including chopped tomatoes, petite peas, baby bella mushrooms, garlic, anchovies and red pepper flakes are mixed together and then combines with the spaghetti. The the anchovies and the oil they are in really give the dish a kick. Cilantro and parmesan are used to top it off just before it is served. I think this is the first time I've ever grated my own parmesan cheese. It really added a nice sharp flavor.

Rhubarb

The rhubarb crunch I made the other day has prompted some curiosity within me about rhubarb itself. I did a little research and found this on Wikipedia:

"Rhubarb is usually considered to be a vegetable; however, in the United States, a New York court decided in 1947 that since it was used in the United States as a fruit it was to be counted as a fruit for the purposes of regulations and duties. A side effect was a reduction in taxes paid."

July 4th - Carol's Rhubarb Crunch

I was bound and determined this year to use some of the rhubard that grows in the backyard. It's been quite a few years since I've made anything with it. In fact, the only thing I've ever used it for is a recipe that was given to me a number of years ago by my co-worker, Carol. Carol and I used to teach 2nd grade together way back in the early 1990s. She and her husband John would usually invite me over to dinner before school would start up in the fall. The practically had a farm in their back yard and Carol liked to show me how everything was coming along. They grew rhubard, tomatoes, corn, cucumber and so much more. Carol made a delicious rhubard crunch and one year when I asked her for the recipe she gladly obliged. She had gotten the recipe out of one of those church cookbooks and she photocopied the page it was on for me. So even though I think of the recipe as Carol's it actually needs to be credited to Ruby and Ramona since they were the gals who submitted the recipe to the church cookbook.

Rhubarb Crunch

Mix until crumbly: 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup melted butter or shortening, 2 teaspoons cinnamon.

Press 3/4 of the crumbly mixture into a 9x13x2-inch pan. Cover with 6 cups of rhubarb.

Combine: 1 1/2 cups white sugar, 1 1/2 cup water, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla.

Cook until thick and clear. Pour over rhubarb. Top with remaining crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

We served it in bowls and topped it with whipped cream and the results were spectacular. Dale loved it and so did I!